National Identity, Tourism and The Fergusons
CAMPAIGN AGAINST YOUTH CULTURE
His pronouncement on the ills of society reminds us of the prophet’s fiery words
“May very well be that’s what happening to the fruit of our body, this young generation that look like they running full speed down that wide, lovely road that lead to …. eternal damnation. Hell fire! (Praise the Lord)”32
The problem is the lack of charity that is being shown in the country, those most in need of correction are the Bahamian youth, who are following the ways of “Mammon” which is equated with licentious American inspired lifestyles. The only future for these young ones is “damnation,” this punishment is not to be confused with an afterlife of torture however, Ezekiel Ferguson makes clear that he has an Economic Apocalypse in mind.
You know what that mean. That this same sea that we so proud of will dry up, the fruit of the sea will wither away, and the fruit of the land will turn to ashes and shrivel you mouth. We can’t even go back to sponge that time my brothers and sisters. 33
If the sun, sand and sea would disappear, what would happen to the tourists? What would happen to the abundant prosperity of the longest ‘boom’ period of Bahamian history? The evocation of the once successful sponging industry was a powerful reminder to Bahamians of the fickle nature of cash cows. After years of reaping large profits from harvesting the naturally occurring sponge in Bahamian waters, a “fungoid” in 1938 destroyed the sponge seemingly overnight, leaving Bahamians to face yet another economic drought.34 Would the wayward ways of the young lead to a tourist blight? The warning was clear.